Because you cared
by krm3DeeDee
Summary: WARNING! manga spoilers for the last chapters! Akashi's not taking defeat very well. Luckily, Furihata Kouki finds him before he can hurt himself. Kind of OOC. Slash Akashi/Furihata aka Akafuri FTW! Also, Happy Birthday Furihata Kouki!


**Because you cared**

**AN**: Hello peeps! I present my first AkaFuri fic! I've watched KnB and been addicted to AoKaga and then AkaFuri for a month or so; I read everything AO3, and the masterpost on tumblr had to offer and now I really wanted to contribute to it, since it's Kurihata's BDay and all (Happy Birthday, Furi!). Don't know about you, but I can't wait for the newxt season, march 2015 can't come soon enough! The videos I will make once Rakuzan Vs Seirin clips come out…with Furiiiii marking Akashi….:D *goes fangirl away in a corner*

Spoilers for the last chapters of the manga. You have been warned!

Also, AkaFuri which is my KnB OTP. Shonen ai/yaoi/slash, don't like, don't read! (though we both know you wouldn't be here if you didn't like it ;))

On with the story!

* * *

><p><em>106 to 105 for Seirin<em>.

Time stops, the air trembles for a few blessed seconds, the sounds disappear; this is too shocking, too hard to process. They won. They won. They won against Emperor Rakuzan. A few seconds of numbness, of no thinking, and then the bench collapses and Furihata jumps and runs to the five heroes on the court, together with everyone else. The sound comes back at once, a cacophony of yells, whistles, cries, and the world blurs more under the assault of tears falling from his eyes: tension, exhaustion, fear, happiness, _unbelievable._

He gets to shake hands with Kuroko, to bump fists with the Captain, to squeeze Kagami's shoulder before he is pushed away by Kawahara who also wants his share, but he doesn't mind; there will be time for congratulations, for celebration. He draws a long breath and dabs at his eyes to stop the tears from falling as he screams his happiness with everyone else. He dares not look at their adversary, so majestic even in their loss, not until he spots Kuroko near the object of his fears.

Akashi Seijuurou looks tired, so very tired, but he shakes Kuroko's hand firmly with a soft smile on his face before directing his team mates to form a line before Seirin. Furihata Kouki also gets in line, eyes never leaving Akashi's face. He spots what he thinks are tears near the corners of his eyes, but he can't be sure - Akashi is sweating just as much as everyone else. The smile he showed Kuroko is gone. Maybe Akashi intended for it to remain on his lips a little longer, but Furihata Kouki can tell this current smile is forced; it does not reach his eyes. He shudders suddenly as he watches the Emperor shake hands with Kagami Taiga. He shares his worries with Kuroko, but Kuroko points out that this really is the first time Akashi has lost at something, therefore his behavior is not strange at all.

Furihata Kouki's uneasiness increases while watching Akashi's shoulders slump as he turns around and walks to the locker room, behind all his team mates. He runs to Seirin's locker room and hits the shower first, then makes an excuse to go out, telling them he has something to do and asks Fukuda to text him when they are all ready to leave. He heads to Rakuzan's locker room, trembling slightly and questioning what madness drove him to go check on the fearsome Captain of the Miracles. He turns around a corner, sees the door open and ducks just in time to see the coach and most of the members of that team leave together. Their morale seems better, maybe the hot shower helped, but Akashi is not with them. Kouki frowns and waits until they are all gone. He tiptoes towards the door and peers through the keywhole. He sees red – red strands of hair, a color he knows too well. Akashi is there, and he seems to be alone.

Kouki takes a look around, but he doesn't spot any scissors. Carefully, he opens the door and closes it behind him. Akashi's head hasn't lifted to acknowledge him, and that gives him the courage to approach the silent boy. Still no scissors in sight. Kouki gulps.

"Mayuzumi, have you returned to tell me off again?"

Kouki doesn't dare reply. Akashi finally lifts his face from the ground and he can see the tears running freely down his face, but the face is expresionless, and there are no hiccups; the captain even cries elegantly, Kouki thinks for a second. Akashi's eyes widen for a second before they narrow in anger.

"Serin's second point guard, have you come to mock me?!" he whispers.

"N-no, n-never!" Furihata stutters, stumbling backwards while Akashi stands up and approaches him like a feline ready to strike its prey.

"What are you doing here then?"

"N-noth-nothing!" Kouki's lies are so obvious, Akashi gets angrier. He slams the boy against the locker behind him and cages him with his arms on both sides of Furihata's neck.

"If you disobey me again, I will hurt you, fellow basketball player or not. Now tell the truth: why are you here?"

Kouki's trembling intensifies and his eyes avert to Akashi's side; escape is impossible, the hallway outside is empty and the phone, while not completely out of reach, is not an option. He curses his stupidity, thinking about how he didn't even tell his team where he was going. There is no way he will be rescued. He will die by Akashi Seijuurou's hand here and now.

"I-I f-f-felt uneasy wa-watching A-akashi-san so I wanted to make sure…um…you're not…um…hurt…maybe?" he stutters, watching the patterns on Akashi's basketball shoes. Those are nice shoes, come to think of it. Definitely an expensive brand, too.

A few seconds tick away, and he doesn't dare lift his eyes. Akashi hasn't moved from his position and he doesn't know yet if that is a good thing or not. His breath is uneven and he begins to sweat, but he doesn't dare move. The person in front of him releases a long breath, and Furihata finally lifts his eyes to look at him.

"I suppose Tetsuya sent you to check on me? He could have come here himself," Akashi mumbles, pushing away from the locker. Kouki slides down until his backside hits the ground, and he breathes easily again. Akashi seems to have turned his attention away from him, which can only be a good thing.

"What is your name?" Akashi asks, lifting the bag and adjusting the strap on his shoulder.

"F-furihata Kouki," the brown haired boy chokes his answer.

"Furihata Kouki, tell Tetsuya that next time he should come in person. He has nothing to fear from me."

Akashi turns to leave, but catches a glimpse of his face in the mirror and hesitates. Furihata quickly takes out a fresh towel from his bag (he always keeps an extra just in case) with trembling hands and offers it silently to Akashi. When the captain makes no move to take it, Furihata boldly walks up to him and places it around his shoulders, lifting a corner to dab at some of the tears still on his cheeks. Akashi's eyes widen for a second, and he lifts his hands just as Kouki retracts his own, and their fingers brush for a few seconds. Kouki's face reddens visibly, and Akashi blinks slowly.

"Um…g-g-gotta go!" Furihata cries suddenly and runs before Akashi can stop him, slamming the door behind.

Akashi stares at the closed door for a while. He approaches the mirror and looks at his reflection again. The small light blue towel makes a nice contrast with his hair. He takes it off his shoulders, washes his face and dries it; the citrus scent invades his nostrils, calming him. Then, his eyes travel down towards the sink and he spots his pair of scissors.

* * *

><p>His phone rings. It's Fukuda.<p>

"Furiii, where are you?" the boy whines.

"Um…I was with a friend from the elementary," Furihata lies. "Where can I find you guys?"

"We're at Maji Burger, across the street from the train station. Hurry up, Kagami already ordered most of the food here."

"Oh. Okay! I'll be off now, see you in a few minutes!"

Furihata takes a detour and realizes he's lost. What the hell? He's usually better at directions than this. Maybe the encounter with Akashi messed him up more than he thought? He runs about for a few more minutes, finally finding the exit. He jumps over some fences (silently thanking coach Riko's training from hell), before ending up in the same area where he first met Akashi Seikuurou. The memory of that makes him shudder, as he looks up at the place where Akashi attacked Kagami-kun with a pair of scissors, before declaring that he is always right because he always wins, and he is absolute. The words nag at him now even more than they did at that time; perhaps the defeat had affected Akashi more than either him or Kuroko suspected. He sincerely hoped Akashi wouldn't hurt another person…or himself.

Kouki turned around, ready to break into a sprint again and thinking about the Maji Burger menu when he spotted a solitary silhouette ahead, with their back turned to Kouki. He recognized the uniform and the red hair immediately, despite the darkness. He approached the captain again silently, wondering what the guy was still doing here instead of going home, and he saw that the redhead was holding a pair of scissors pointed inwards, as if he was going to stab himself.

In a burst of madness, Kouki yelled and sprinted towards Akashi, capturing the wrist holding that pair of scissors just as Akashi had begun to move it in the direction of his eyes.

"What a-a-are you doing, Akashi-san?!" Kouki yelles, forgetting how much he feared the captain.

"Simply removing what is useless."

"Akashi-san! Are you mad?! Your eyes are not useless, nothing of yours is useless, nor anyone in the team! Matches are won or lost by the entire team, nobody is guilty!"

"Coach would disagree," Akashi says quietly.

"The coach is guilty too," Kouki speaks with resolution. "It's not fair to blame you. Hand over the scissors!" he says, feeling the madness return to him, and a strangely subdued Akashi lets Kouki remove the scissors from his now slack grip.

"It was my fault that the team lost."

Kouki frowns.

"Akashi-san, the last quarter…when you changed, when it seemed like everyone entered the Zone, that play of yours was glorious, I can't even find a better word for it. I can only dream to one day manage those smooth, perfect passes," Kouki spoke slowly, blushing and scratching the back of his head.

Akashi looks at him in wonder, and thankfully makes no move to retrieve the scissors.

"Do you really think so or are you just saying this to enter my good graces?"

"There is such thing as entering your good graces?" Kouki tries a joke. Akashi's doesn't react.

Kouki's shoulders slump forward and he sighs. He places the scissors at the bottom of his bag, carefully wrapped in a towel, takes out his phone and texts Fukuda that he'll be late, because his friend needs his help with something. Fukuda texts back an okay. He places the phone in the pocket and looks at Akashi. Slowly, he approaches the boy and grabs his wrist. He drags Akashi towards the park and sits him in a swing. Akashi's face is expressionless again. Kouki feels like he's stepping on a minefield, but he needs to do something for Rakuzan's captain before the red-haired boy tries to harm himself again. In an impulse, he hugs the captain to his chest, feeling the boy stiffen. Kouki keeps hugging him for another minute, until the boy relaxes against him. He lets go of the now calm captain and faces him with a resolute expression.

"Akashi-san, I am not lying. You were majestic, brilliant on that court tonight. You were absolute. But we were desperate, and desperate people find resources even when all seems lost. I don't know what the others felt, but I was honored to play in the same court as Rakuzan and Akashi-san."

Akashi stayed silent.

"And I am aware that this is probably the first defeat you have faced, and you shouldn't be alone now, Akashi-san, but maybe it is a good thing that defeat happened now."

"Why?" Akashi asked, lifting his head to look at Kouki. The brown haired boy smiles softly at him.

"Because there weren't many important things at stake now. Sure, there is pride, but, really, we have two more years of rematches and if you will always play like you did in the last ten minutes, we probably won't win again. Haha, please don't tell coach Riko I said that. That is, defeat could have happened later, and you could have lost more important things like a house, a company, a place of work, a large sum of money, something like that. Not that I ever want this to happen to you, it's just…"

"Just?"

"Um. Akashi-san, as long as victory isn't absolute, it means you have to work hard to achieve it, right? Working hard with your team mates, sharing their dreams, and enjoying every victory, right?"

Akashi blinked. Kurihata Kouki waited a few more seconds, looking indecisive.

"I will think about what you have said. It sounds reasonable so far," Akashi said softly.

"There is another thing about us, Akashi-san, about Seirin, I mean. Another reason, except for pride and everything else that is obvious. We don't talk about it, but it's not exactly a secret, although please don't tell anyone else. Coach Aida-san made us swear an oath at the beginning of the year, when we first years joined the team."

Akashi's eyes sparked with interest.

"She made us swear that if we don't win, we will have to confess in front of our crushes naked." Akashi's eyes widened and he chuckled. Furihata saw this as a sign to continue. "And also, please don't tell anyone else, but I think Captain actually likes our coach, so…maybe he was the most desperate one of us all?"

"That is Seirin's recipe for victory?"

"Yes."

"What a fool you are for telling me this, Kouki."

"Eh?!" the boy blinked at the use of his first name.

"I could steal it and use it for my own team," he deadpanned.

"That would be bad news for us," Kouki answered smiling. "Please don't do it."

Akashi smirked and stood up from the swing. He wrapped his arms around Furihata Kouki's arms loosely and watched the boy's red face with fascination.

"And what will you give me in return, Kouki?"

The boy's breath hitched.

"Akashi-san, what would you like?"

"A kiss," the boy answered quickly, thinking it would turn Kouki into a blushing, stuttering mess that he could tease further. Instead, Kouki looked around, and seeing that the park was empty, held Akashi's face tenderly with trembling fingers and brought their lips together. It was a short, soft touch that Akashi barely registered, but his heart thumped wildly against his chest.

"Kouki, kiss me again. Properly, this time."

"What will you give me in return, Akashi-san?" Kouki asked, feeling mad boldness.

"What would you like, Kouki?" Akashi asked with a smirk.

"I want you to be safe. Please don't hurt yourself, and don't hurt others unless they really deserve it, Akashi-san."

"You want nothing for yourself, even though you already know my financial situation."

Kouki looked horrified and stuggled in Akashi's hold. The boy tightened his arms around Kouki's waist and waited.

"I am neither a seller, nor a buyer of kisses, Akashi-san."

"Do you care about me, Kouki?"

The boy blushed and nodded.

"Then, I promise you that I will not hurt myself. I can't make any promises about not hurting others, though."

"It's fine like this," Kouki said, smiling sadly and placing his arms on Akashi's shoulders. He stood on his tiptoes and closed his eyes, just as Akashi leaned forward. They met halfway. One of Akashi's arms tightened around the boys' waist as the other hand traveled up his spine until he reached the back of his neck, settling along Kouki's jaw, guiding the boy into the kiss.

He licked Kouki's bottom lip and the boy gasped, opening his mouth enough for Akashi's tongue to sneak inside, his tongue coaxing Kouki's into a sensual dance. They kissed slowly, lazily, open mouthed, and Kouki moaned, feeling his knees collapse. Akashi anticipated this and his arm supported Kouki's back. Opening one of his eyes to quickly check the surroundings, Akashi decided to push Furihata and walk him backwards to a bench nearby. There, he sat down and dragged Kouki swiftly towards him and into his lap. He continued to kiss the blushing, moaning boy and he groaned when he felt the boy's trembling fingers travel along his shoulders to his head, his face, touching him softly, reverently. His heart sped up at the boy's ministrations. He stopped the kiss, licking the trail of saliva between them and took a good look at the panting, crying, flushed mess in his arms. Akashi smirked and loosened the boy's collar with a swift movement, attacking his neck with butterfly kisses, before settling on a spot and sucking. This was pure madness and Akashi's control slipped away from him with every noise the boy made. His body was for Akashi to play, to mark, to own. He felt himself harden and thanked fate that he was wearing loose sports trousers. Akashi noticed that Kouki seemed to have the same problem. Smirking, he grabbed the boy's hips and moved him along his erection to create sweet friction while his lips attacked the boy's collarbone with open-mothed, sensual kisses.

"Mmm…A-A-Akashi-san, not t-there…aaahhhh," the boy stuttered between moans of pleasure, holding on to Akashi's shoulders desperately.

"Kouki," the readhead whispered, sneaking his hands under Furihata's jersey and touching warm skin, dangerously close to his nipples.

"Stop!" Kouki suddenly cried, and Akashi stopped, feeling the cold winder air hit his face, and wondering why his chest suddenly constricted painfully at the brown haired boy's sudden rejection.

"Ahh, too much, can't breathe…" the boy said, panting. "Akashi-san…"

Akashi buried his face in Kurihata Kouki's chest and released a shuddery breath.

"Go out with me, Kouki," he pleaded.

"Akashi-san, I don't…"

"Please," the boy whispered. "I want you like I never wanted anything before. I will make you happy, Kouki. I will help you with anything you want. I will eliminate whoever even tries to hurt you. I-" Akashi stopped, choking.

"Akashi-san, I don't think I am good enough, but I also want to t-try this. I want to g-go out with you, just…please be patient with me, this is my first time dating someone."

"As you wish, Kouki," Akashi answered, his eyes darkening with lust.

* * *

><p>"It's been an hour, Furihata," Fukuda called out to him when the boy finally entered Maji Burger. "Your food got cold".<p>

"Ah, sorry about that," the boy answered, face red from the cold. He sat down next to Kuroko in the only free chair left at the table and grabbed a burger from the tray in front of him. Thankfully, no one questioned him further, everyone engrossed in their conversations, laughter and eating. The blue-haired boy stopped sipping his milkshake and smiled, an uncharacteristic expression on his face.

"I am glad to see you back in one piece, Furihata-kun," he spoke softly.

"Eh? You know?"

"I received a text from Akashi-kun almost an hour ago asking why I sent you to his locker room to check on you, and that I should do it myself, and I had no idea what he was talking about. I assume you stayed with him all this time?"

"Ahhh…yes," Kouki answered, blushing anew.

"Then, I suppose congratulations are in order, if those hickeys on your neck are anything to go by."

"What?!"

**THE END**


End file.
